Cinnamon Rolls. Just because.
On Tuesdays and Thursdays, I post a photo and just a few words.
When I was making overnight cinnamon rolls on Christmas Eve day, I stopped to take a few photos, just because I think they're kind of beautiful.
(Actually, I took that first photo because I am madly in love with my uber stylish and durable stainless steel measuring spoons
, which I got for Christmas year. I seriously feel so fancy-pants when I use them.)
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Joshua's 365 post: A Darker Picture
Kristen,
Is there a certain rolling pin that you recommend? I'm trying to branch out and start baking 🙂
Mine is actually just a cheapie from a big box store from way back in the day, so I'm gonna take a wild leap and say you don't have to spend big bucks on a rolling pin.
Hi Jessica,
I bake a lot and my suggestion is a tapered rolling pin. They don't have handles and you just use your hands to guide the pin around. It SO much easier than a regular rolling pin. They have one on Amazon for 8 dollars (just search tapered rolling pin or french rolling pin). I got mine for 10 dollars at Target 12 years ago when I got married. FG is right though, you don't need to spend much on a rolling pin!
Meredith
I use whatever bottle is at hand - wine, vinegar, olive oil... !
We make cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning too. Family tradition, three generations. I will have to check out your recipe. Each generation has tweaked the recipe. I have a little hint for you. I see you are using a knife to cut them. This squishes the rolls. Use unwaxed dental floss. Lay the piece under the dough where you want to cut. Bring the floss around the dough, cross the floss and pull. Perfectly cuts the rolls without squishing them.
Oh, no, I did actually use dental floss! I'm not sure what the knife is doing there, actually. Unflavored dental floss works SO great.
It looks like you used the knife to mark the cuts evenly. The floss is peeking from behind the knife.
Thanks for inspiring my New Year's Eve treat. I realized I have all the ingredients to whip these up!
Yep, that's exactly what I did! I didn't trust myself to cut evenly otherwise.
They look splendido.
Alright, I have to ask: What's your take on spices? I see that jar of cinnamon from Aldi, and I realize I've suddenly turned into a spice snob.
I feel like I need to take a step back and just.... see if it's even founded! I used to buy spices at Aldi or the supermarket... until I moved to Evanston, IL and learned of The Spice House. Alton Brown recommends them, and uses them allll the time. He has all his spices flown in from there!
And I have to admit... I feel like they offer exceptional options...fresh...and I can detect SOME difference. But the best part is...I can bring my own packaging, I can buy as little or as much as I want. And often times its far cheaper than the traditional stores (not aldi though.... not much is cheaper than aldi ;p).
Do you only get spices from the store? Do you order specialty ones? Want to know!
When it's something I use only rarely (cardamom, for example) I do buy it in bulk. Which in this case means buying just a teeny bit. But for things like cinnamon, which I use profusely, I just buy the Aldi stuff or the Costco kind (which is actually really super good.)
I don't follow many blogs...I guess that makes me a blog snob...yours is the second and to be truthful...it's my favorite!!!
Aww, thank you! I'm very honored whenever my blog is someone's favorite!
Wow, those look really good!
These look yummy. A question though - when they're done baking - are these a soft cinnamon roll?
I would say so...they're definitely not crunchy or hard.
Your cinnamon rolls look wonderful, but I'm really posting to agree with you on the measuring spoons - I have the same ones, and I just absolutely love them! Is it right for something so small to bring such pleasure?
If it's wrong, I don't want to be right.
These look awesome and yummmmy. We just began our family tradition of cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning, along with eggs and clementines (we just have a one year old), but I confess, our rolls were from a can. I am soooo not one to mess around with dough. Batter yes, dough no. And I have learned to be okay with this fact about myself. And I have your blog to thank for it! Your posts about not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good, and not forcing yourself to do things you hate just out of guilt, or because someone else does them, have finally gotten through to me! 🙂 Thanks!
My husband bought me those measuring spoons and the measuring cups for my birthday years ago and I love them on an almost daily basis.
Bellisimo!